Story+1984-09-17+Philadelphia,+PA

´´Oh, thanks, this is uh....this is a song, I guess about trying to, trying to come to terms with your folks....which is pretty hard to do (chuckles) I know, uh.....when I was living with my parents I felt like they were, uh....they were kind of like the livingroom furniture, they kind of came with the house (chuckles)....I guess I never thought that like my Dad was like, you know, he was just a guy who was a little older than me and had his own feelings and his own, and his own dreams and ways of looking at things....and uh.....sometimes I guess you gotta, you gotta have some distance before you can look back a little bit, you gotta get out of the house (chuckles) before you can come back and maybe say some of the things to ´em that you couldn´t say when you, when you were living that close....so this is for anybody that´s away from home this year for the first time.....good luck....”
 * 17.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Independence Day´**

´´This is a song....this song is about....nostalgia (chuckles) that´s big (chuckles) was bigger in the 70´s but it´s still big, it´s like, that´s old times, that´s everybody telling you how great it used to be and how bad it is now....now, when I go home at night.....usually I get home real late....I wonder why....you guys keep me up very late....so by the time I get home, like the only thing that´s usually on is like ´Twilight Zone´-reruns....or Channel 6, sometimes they have all the late movies (?)...but I only get the Philadelphia stations up where I live in New Jersey (chuckles)....I can´t find them down here at the hotel (chuckles) I think they only send ´em up north, but anyway I was watching this ´Twilight Zone´ and it was one about this actor and he´s kind of a, he´s, he´s an old man and, and he´s always remembering about how great things were when he was young and how he wishes he was back then and so, you know (?) ....(plays a bit of ´Outer Limits´)....he goes into the Twilight Zone....and then he goes back, you know, to when he was a young man and he finds out that everybody was treating him like a dog and the girl that he thought was so great, she was cheating on him with some other guy and, and, uh....you know, all this stuff and so he ends up wishing he was back in normal life and he comes back, but watching that show that always reminds me of myself and that´s because when I´m out at a bar or something there´s always somebody that comes up to me telling me like how, what a good time we had in high school, how much fun it was....that was the life then, things were great then....and I would start to believe ´em but the more I think about it the more I realise that I hated high school.....couldn´t stand being in no high school... when this time of year comes around I´m still glad I don´t have to go to high school....yeah, I tell you it´s like in high school I was only interested in two things, one of ´em was the guitar ....that was the one that I got good at (chuckles) and the other one, I´m still looking for some volunteers who wanna practise, practise, practise (?)(cheers) I´m so lonely (chuckles)....but anyway this is a song about how all things must pass....and it ain´t nothing....but glory days....alright, boys, let´s go....”
 * 17.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´Alright....this is....this is for my friends from Ireland that are out there tonight.....”
 * 17.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´The Promised Land´**

´´Thanks....it´s, uh.....oh, when I was a kid....I grew up real close to this park and uh....and in the middle of the park there was this monument....I remember when my mother used to ask me where I was going, I´d tell her that, uh, ´Oh, we´re gonna go over, gonna go over and play by the monument´, she´d always know where I was....and uh....and later on I got in a, I got in my first band and we were gonna have our publicity pictures taken....first time we ever had our pictures taken and we went down and we got, uh, got these Beatle boots and snakeskin vests....they were really made out of plastic but (chuckles) they looked like snakeskin and uh, frilly shirts like the Kinks used to wear....and we tried to, I remember we tried to straighten our hair so we´d look Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones (chuckles) I always had real curly hair that would never go straight, you know (chuckles) and I remember how we all went down to the monument and we stood out in front of it and got our pictures taken with our guitars, trying to look real, real serious and real cool....any pictures where anybody was smiling we automatically threw that one out that (chuckles) wasn´t cool enough (?)(chuckles) but uh.....anyway, uh....I realised I grew up around this monument all the time when I was a kid and it wasn´t till I got to be older that I even knew what it was a monument to....and that there was a Revolutionary War battle that was fought just outside the town I grew up in....but before, uh....before this tour I went down to Washington....and I seen, uh.... I seen the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial....and I remember the....the guy that was the drummer in that band I was in, I remember he enlisted in the Marines, came over his uniform on and said he was going to Vietnam....and he didn´t know where it was but he was gonna go there....anyway, his name, his name´s on the stone down there....and it´s a long....it´s a long walk and it´s a.....a lot of years and a long distance in-between that Lincoln Memorial and that Vietnam Veterans Memorial...and uh....monuments are there so that you, so that you always remember and so that you´d never forget that this is your hometown....and what happens here, we all bear some of the responsobility for it....”
 * 17.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´My Hometown´**

´´(after the crowd sings the part it usually sings) You guys oughta start a rock and roll band.....”
 * 17.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, middle of ´Thunder Road´**

´´Take it easy, boys....well, now, this is a song....about the conflict between worldly things and spiritual health....between desires of the flesh....and spiritual ecstasy....now, where did this conflict begin ?...well, it began in the beginning.....in a place called the Garden of Eden ....now, in the Garden of Eden, there were none of the accoutrements of modern living.... there were no beds, there were no houses, there was no TV, there was no McDonalds out on the highway that you could get a hamburger at....instead there was a man and a woman....but now, there was no sin....there was no sex.....they lived in a state of innocence....now, when it comes to no sex....I personally would prefer the state of guilt that I constantly live in....but anyway, there was a man, there was a woman, there was an apple, there was a snake, there was temptation, there was sin and parked curbside there was the getaway car....a pink Cadillac...”
 * 17.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Pink Cadillac´**

´´This is for Obie tonight....(?)....”
 * 17.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Jersey Girl´**

´´Alright, ladies and gentlemen....children of all ages....citizens of Philadelphia....and whoever the hell else is out there....it is now time to introduce to you the illustrious members of the E Street Band....first, a young man to my left, the most educated member of the E Street Band....the only member who´s completed not only grammar school but has a full high school diploma also....he gave up a scholarship to Harvard University where he was working on his PhD in unusual sexual practises...he told ´em they could kiss his ass because he wants to tour, he wants to rock the nation with the E Street Band in 1984....so the man that gave up higher education....to rock and roll the nation, the educated, the dedicated, the complicated, the sexually liberated Professor Roy Bittan on the piano....and next, on the vocals, an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.....from Long Branch, New Jersey....lookout, boys, she hates to be alone, the beautiful, the lovely, the talented Miss Patti Scialfa (chuckles)....and next, the gentleman that puts the bass in your face, that brings you the thunder from down under, his mother was a Tallent, his father was a Tallent, the incredible, the unbelievable, Mr.Garry W.Tallent on the bass guitar....and next, the man on the drums that puts the heat in the beat to get you up out of your seat and moving your feet, author of The Big Beat, Mighty Max Weinberg on the drums....and next, ladies and gentlemen, I´d like to introduce to you a man who´s celebrating his 15th anniversary as a member of the E Street Band....and now tonight we have a special occasion where I´d like to show my appreciation for all those years of dedicated service, bring out the gifts....Danny, a portable hairdryer.... and two tickets to tonight´s show....let´s hear it for him, on the organ, Phantom Dan Federici .....and now, ladies and gentlemen, a man that works the entire evening without the benefit of a net....I´d like to introduce to you a gentleman as sweet as life itself, the newest member of the E Street Band....Nils Lofgren on the guitar (Nils does his stunt on the trampoline and doesn´t do it right) one more time (Nils repeats his stunt) perfection at last....and now, ladies and gentlemen, a man who needs no introduction so give me a C....L...A....R....E....N....C...E what´s that spell ?...what´s that spell ?....what´s that spell ?....on the saxophone, Clarence Big Man Clemons....”
 * 17.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, middle of ´Rosalita´**

´´Thank you....I´d like to....I´d like to just take a minute and thank everybody for coming down to the show tonight, thank you very much.....it´s always, uh, it´s always good to come back to Philadelphia, you guys´ve....showed us a lot of support over the years and we want you to know that we appreciate it....so this is for all the tramps like us.....”
 * 17.09.84 Philadelphia, PA, intro to ´Born to Run´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//